Paris under the Commune eBook

As to the cause of the explosion, opinions varied
much. Some said it was owing to the negligence
of the overseers or the imprudence of the workwomen;
others, that the fire was caused by a shell. A
woman rushed up to us, screaming out that she had
just seen a man arrested in a shed in the Champ de
Mars, who acknowledged having blown up the powder-magazine,
by order of the Versailles government. Of course
this was inevitable. The Commune would not let
such a good opportunity pass for accusing its enemies.
A few innocent people will be arrested, tried with
more or less form, and shot; when they are so many
corpses, the Commune will exclaim, “You see
they must have been guilty: they have been shot!”

As evening came on I turned home, thinking that the
cup was now filled to overflowing, and that the devoted
city had had to suffer defeat, civil war, infamy,
and death; but that this last disaster seemed almost
more than divine justice. Ever and anon I turned
my head to gaze again. In the gathering gloom,
the flames looked blood-red, as if the Commune had
unfurled its sinister banner over that irreparable
disaster.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 97: Razoua served in a regiment of
Spahis in Africa. Becoming acquainted with the
journalists who used to frequent the Cafe de Madrid,
he was a constant attendant there. He took up
literature, and in 1867 published some violent articles
in the Pilori of Victor Noir. He afterwards
went with Delescluze to the Reveil, where his
revolutionary principles were manifested. In
the month of February, 1871, he was elected a member
of the National Assembly by the people of Paris.
After having sat for some time at Bordeaux, he gave
his resignation, and became one of the Communal council.

Appointed governor of the Ecole Militaire, he distinguished
himself in no way in his position, except by the sumptuous
dinners and dejeuners with which he regaled his friends.]

LXXXIX.

I have gazed so long on what was passing around me
that my eyes are weary. I have watched the slow
decline of joy, of comfort and luxury, almost without
knowing how everything has been dying around me, as
a man in a ball-room where the candles are put out,
one by one, may not perceive at first the gathering
gloom. To see Paris, as it is at the present
moment, as the Commune has made it, requires an effort.
Let me shut my eyes, and evoke the vision of Paris
as it was, living, joyous, happy even in the midst
of sadness. I have done so—­I have brought
it all back to me; now I will open my eyes and look
around me.

In the street that I inhabit not a vehicle of any
kind is visible. Men in the uniform of National
Guards pass and repass on the pavement; a lady is
talking with her concierge on the threshold
of one of the houses. They talk low. Many
of the shops are closed; some have only the shutters
up; a few are quite open. I see a woman at the
bar of the wine-shop opposite, drinking.